Wine calculator: how much wine for a wedding or party
For a wedding or party, buy one 750 ml bottle for every five glasses. The wine calculator counts one 150 ml glass per wine drinker per hour, plus a 10% spare. Change any setting.
Use the wine calculator
Count every guest, hosts included.
Count children, drivers and guests who will drink beer, spirits or nothing.
For a wedding, count the reception only.
Starts at one an hour. Change it if wine is poured only with dinner.
Covers generous pours and a faulty bottle. Starts at 10%.
Bottles to buy
10 guests for 3 hours: buy 7 bottles.
- Red 4
- White 3
How we got there
10 wine drinkers × 3 glasses = 30 glasses.
A 750 ml bottle pours five 150 ml glasses, so that is 6 bottles.
Plus 1 spare bottle: the 10% spare covers generous pours or a faulty bottle.
This is what to buy, not what anyone should drink. Put out water, food and at least one drink without alcohol.
| Guests | 2 hours | 3 hours | 4 hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10 | 5 | 7 | 9 |
| 20 | 9 | 14 | 18 |
| 50 | 22 | 33 | 44 |
| 100 | 44 | 66 | 88 |
| 150 | 66 | 99 | 132 |
How the wine calculator counts
The count assumes one 150 ml (5 oz) glass per wine drinker per hour. That is the US standard pour, and a 750 ml bottle holds five of them. The calculator adds a 10% spare for generous pours and the odd faulty bottle, then rounds up to whole bottles. At small sizes the rounding already covers the spare, so no extra bottle shows.
Lower "Glasses for each wine drinker" for a long lunch, or when wine is poured only with dinner. A 240 ml (8 oz) pour gets three glasses from a bottle. To keep to five, measure 150 ml of water in your glass once and pour to that line.
How much wine for a wedding
A 4 to 5 hour reception needs about one bottle for each wine drinker, spare included. Set the hours to the length of the reception. If wine is poured only with dinner, set 2 glasses for each wine drinker. If the bar stays open after dinner, keep one glass an hour.
For a toast, pick "Red, white and sparkling", which makes a fifth of the bottles sparkling. A sparkling bottle pours six 125 ml flutes, so 17 bottles give 100 guests one toast each. If cake is on the table at the toast, choose an Extra Dry or Dry Prosecco. Despite the names, both are sweeter than Brut: a Brut Prosecco holds up to 12 grams of sugar per liter, Extra Dry 12 to 17 and Dry 17 to 32. A Brut tastes sour next to cake.
How to split red, white and sparkling
Start at half red and half white. On a hot day, choose "Mostly white", because white is served cold. Choose it too when the main dish is fish: red wine tannin (the drying grip on your gums) meets fish oils and leaves a metallic taste. If the food is red meat with char or fat, choose "Mostly red", because tannin softens beside fat and protein.
Quick answers
How much wine for a wedding of 100 guests?
88 bottles for a 4 hour reception where all 100 guests drink wine: 400 glasses fill 80 bottles, plus 8 spare. If wine is poured only with dinner, set 2 glasses each and buy 44. Pick red, white and sparkling, and 18 of the 88 come out sparkling for the toast.
How much wine for a party of 50?
33 bottles for a 3 hour party where all 50 guests drink wine: 150 glasses fill 30 bottles, plus 3 spare. If 10 of the 50 will not drink wine, buy 27.
How many bottles of wine per person?
About half a bottle for each wine drinker at a 2 to 3 hour party, and close to one bottle each at a 4 to 5 hour wedding reception, plus a 10% spare. Both assume one 150 ml glass an hour and five glasses to a 750 ml bottle.
How should you split red and white?
Start at half red and half white. Buy about two white for every red on a hot day, because white is served cold, or with fish, because red wine tannin and fish oils leave a metallic taste. For a toast, make a fifth of the bottles sparkling.
How many glasses of wine are in a bottle?
Five glasses of 150 ml (5 oz) in a standard 750 ml bottle, or six 125 ml flutes of sparkling wine for a toast. A magnum holds 1.5 liters, so it pours ten 150 ml glasses.
